An Axiomatic Design Approach For Design-Construction Integration Of Construction Projects
S P Sreenivas Padala and J Uma Maheswari
Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) projects are multifaceted and dynamic in nature. They are well-known for design-construction fragmentation within various phases of a project and among various stakeholders. Fragmentation affects the construction industry adversely in the form of poor quality work, redesigns, time and cost overruns and lack of client satisfaction. This fragmentation can be overcome by the integration of various stakeholders' viewpoints on design-construction from the early stages of design. The conceptual design is traditionally viewed as a manifestation of art and intuition, and this phase is often neglected. Researchers have identified that the Axiomatic Design is a potential tool for capturing and analyzing the design and construction requirements in the early stages of design. The axiomatic design translates customer requirements into functional requirements, then to design and construction parameters in a systematic manner. This research work is presented as a case study, with the aim to provide an understanding of how the design and construction decisions influence each other at the various levels of the design process. Two cases, regarding illustrations-designer and contractor viewpoints were reviewed to apply the axiomatic design concepts in building construction projects. This study proposes a design-construction integration conceptual framework to map the requirements and its solutions (design and construction) using the axiomatic design approach.
Integration, Functional requirements, Design parameters, Construction parameter
Download
Research Articles
Risk Ranking Of Indian Highways PPP Projects
Anil Kumar Gupta and M. K. Trivedi
Private sector participation and investment has become the mainstay of the Government of India's policy toward infrastructural development. Experiments in the Public Private Partnership (PPP) road projects yielded mixed results. Some of the major road projects have caused embarrassment to the government due to varied reasons; developers and lenders are not coming forward due to the fear of failure. The success of the ongoing twelfth five-year plan critically depends on the success of PPPs in infrastructure. In this paper, the major risk factors concerning the ongoing PPP projects have been identified and riskiness has been ranked based upon the opinion of experts. The experts' opinions, have been graded by using AHP. The study includes screening of the riskiest factors among the major risks in current Highway projects undertaken by the NHAI and MPRDC. the findings suggests that one of the most important risk mitigation measures is to set up a regulator to the PPP Road projects which could oversee the fast changing overall socio-economic environment and suggest measures to lessen risk and build enduring roads.
Public Private Partnership (PPP), Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), Model Concession Agreement (MCA), Concession Agreement (CA), National Highways Authority of India
(NHAI), Madhya Pradesh Road Development Corporation (MPRDC)
Download
Research Articles
Ranking Of The Factors That Affect TBM Productivity
Siddharth Patel and Devanshu Pandit
Tunnel boring involves digging a tube-like passage through the earth using a Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM). The complexity involved in tunnel boring makes it challenging to estimate important variables such as cost, time, and productivity in TBM processes. Nevertheless, such estimations are necessary for successful and efficient completion of tunneling projects. To estimate the performance of a TBM, factors or variables that influence the productivity must be known. This research identifies the factors that affect the productivity of TBM using a quantitative approach and analyzes the importance of these factors in TBM operation. A detailed survey of literature, followed by a questionnaire-based survey was carried out to identify and rank the factors in order of influence of the TBM performance. The Relative Importance Index (RII) method is used to determine the importance of factors after performing various tests of soundness for content and criterion validity. Geological parameters, managerial skills, frequency of maintenance and TBM mechanical breakdowns emerged as the most prominent factors affecting productivity. This identification of factors provides a base for the development of empirical equations related to Penetration Rate (PR) and Advance Rate (AR).
Factors, Ranking, Tunneling, Productivity, Relative Importance Index (RII)
Download
Research Articles
The Stigma Effect On Property Value : A Study Of 'Value Depreciation' And Its Distribution In India
Valuation of real properties is an important process that aids the real estate/property market transactions and agents. Valuation of properties is generally governed by physical, economic and financial factors concerning the property, market conditions and market players. However, other factors like information, belief, trust and other psychological and behavioural factors also affect the value of property to a good extent, but this aspect is not studied much. 'Stigma' associated with the property is one such psycho-behavioural factor attached to property that affects its value. Varieties of 'stigma' can exist upon a property depending upon the situation. This paper reports an assessment of the effect of 'stigma' on property value in terms of 'depreciation' on the value of comparable properties. Based on the primary data collected from various parts of the country (all observations from Indian cities), the paper analyses the distribution of the 'stigma effect on property value depreciation' across various regions of India i.e., north, south, east west and central. Subsequently, the paper also analyses on which aspect of the property value can the stigma impact be seen most i.e., income yield (Y) or capital value (C). The distribution of 'stigma effect' across the regions is thus explained through the Y-C matrix derived for the above regions
Property value, Stigma, Depreciation, Income yield, Capital value and Y-C matrix
Download
Research Articles
Experimental Investigation Of Mechanical Properties Of Hybrid Fibre Reinforced Concrete
Akshay S. Tejankar and Kundan K. Thakur
Concrete, which is a widely used construction material, is good in compression and weak in tension. It is evident that the detonation of concrete as cracking suggests a lack of resistance to tensile loads in concrete even when reinforced with rebars. Fibre reinforcement has been proven as an effective and economical way to improve the mechanical properties of concrete such as tensile strength, flexural strength, compressive strength, creep behaviour, impact resistance and toughness. Hence, fibre reinforced concrete is used. Moreover, the addition of fibres makes the transformation of concrete from a brittle to a more ductile material. The inclusion of both steel and nylon fibres are used in order to combine the benefits of both fibres; structural improvements provided by steel fibres and the resistance to plastic shrinkage improvements provided by nylon fibres. In this research work, different combinations of steel and nylon fibres were used for the hybrid reinforced concrete mixtures. The comparative study of different steel-nylon fibre proportions was done to investigate the compressive strength, flexure strength and split tensile strength of hybrid fibre reinforced concrete under compression, flexure and tension.
Sensing Structural Rigidity Damages At Construction Site Using Detectors
D. Kamalnataraj , V. Ramasamy and J. Nasrinfathima
Presently, the construction industry is well equipped with proper structural design concepts and the factor of safety adoptions. However, there are still minor to major collapses occurring on regular basis. These collapses occur in constructed structures as well as under construction structures. Safety of human life is a serious concern in these structural collapses. Though there are enormous economic losses, the loss of human lives can be avoided if the structural collapse is predicted. This research is an attempt in sensing the structural rigidity damages in the building prior to failure, thus making the occupant / public aware of the situation for emergency evacuation.
Construction safety, Human life, Prediction, Structural collapse
Research & Publications Department 